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Archives for November 2009

I have a soft spot for eco-friendly toys. They’re toys! They’re eco-friendly!

I first saw these particular trucks in my local toy store, and I fell in love with them immediately. In addition to being attractive and appearing durable, they have an interesting origin: They’re made from recycled plastic milk jugs, and they’re made in the U.S., in California.

The manufacturer, Green Toys, has this to say about these toys on its website:

All Green Toys products are 100% made in the USA. To be more specific, they are produced in California, a state known for strict toy safety and environmental laws. It’s cool to buy USA, but also think about this: transportation is one of the biggest contributors to greenhouse gasses. We all know driving less is good for mother nature, but did you ever think about how many miles a toy logs before it ends up in your local store? [Read more…] about Unique holiday gift idea #6: Eco-friendly trucks and tools

Don’t freak out, however, if the children in your life weren’t babbling in two languages before they could walk. There are developmental changes in the brain around puberty that may make learning language a bit more difficult, but that doesn’t mean children and adults of all languages can’t become proficient in one more more foreign languages. Bilingualism hasn’t been shown to cause any long-term delay in the development of English-language skills, even for students enrolled in language immersion programs at school.

Remember, too, that bilingualism has benefits beyond the second language. Children who are learning a second language, or acquiring two languages simultaneously, may also exhibit earlier reading, better problem-solving skills, and higher scores on both the verbal and mathematical sections of the SAT than monolingual students. Bilingualism also opens the doors to a broader spectrum of careers.

Why this gift matters

As you can see from the benefits discussed above, children benefit tremendously—in both the short and long term—from learning a second language. By setting a child on the path to bilingualism, or encouraging a child who is already on that path, you are enabling the development of crucial intellectual and social skills. [Read more…] about Unique holiday gift idea #3: Bilingual poetry

I’m starting a new feature here: I’ll regularly post the best articles, blog posts, reports, fun things, and other resources I run across each week.

Quiz!

You must take–and encourage others to take–this eye-opening quiz from EdChange. To get a sense of it, check out the first three questions:

1. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, what is the percentage of U.S. schools with no teachers of color on staff?

2. Compared with White women, how likely are African American women in the U.S. to die during childbirth due to a lack of access to prenatal care, according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality?

3. According to a study by the American Association of Physicians for Human Rights, what percentage of physicians report witnessing a colleague giving reduced care or refusing care to lesbian, gay, or bisexual patients?

When I was a kid, adults still frequently referred to the peach crayon as “flesh color.” Today, there’s no excuse for passing on to children such a narrow view of human diversity–both because we are in many ways more sensitive to issues of diversity and because there are some fabulous art supplies out there to solve the problem of the singular flesh-colored crayon.

Why this gift matters

Kids can learn pretty early on–by picking up on explicit and implicit signals from adults–how to view a society that is becoming increasingly diverse. It’s important to both be direct with your children about living in a multicultural society by working the topic into your everyday conversations and to model good behavior as a citizen of a diverse society. Arts and crafts are an excellent opportunity to have these kinds of discussions, as kids are relatively focused on a single task. Providing children with craft supplies designed with multiculturalism in mind makes it even easier to start these conversations–and lets you encourage your children to imagine the possibility of a vibrant world packed with interesting people from whose lives and experiences they might learn. [Read more…] about Unique holiday gift idea #4: Multicultural arts and crafts supplies (part I)

I just came across a few videos that I thought do a fine job of explaining how kids, and in the case of the first video, especially biracial or multiracial children, can express themselves through puppets in liberating ways. Try to look past the low production values, as there’s some really good information here, both in terms of how children use puppets and how parents might encourage children to be creative through animating common objects.